The latest evidence came during Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Ames, Iowa, when the eight declared Republican candidates squared off about the economy, foreign policy and energy issues. Even with longtime EPA critic Rick Perry (the newest contender in the Republican field) absent from the stage, the Obama administration’s environmental policies were roasted, toasted and burned.

Jon Huntsman, a former Utah governor and President Obama’s first ambassador to China, insisted that the EPA was standing in the way of economic growth. Huntsman argued that EPA regulations on pollution are hindering plans for new manufacturing plants.

“If you want to build a facility in the United States, you can’t, because of the EPA’s regulatory reign of terror,’ Huntsman said. “We don’t make things anymore in this country. We need to start making things in this country, and in order to do that, we need serious regulatory reform — not just repealing ‘Obamacare,’ but ending the EPA’s regulatory reign of terror.”

The EPA isn’t a stranger to the attacks during GOP presidential debates. During the last round organized by CNN in June, three-term U.S. representative and House Tea Party Caucus founder Michele Bachmann said the EPA “should really be renamed the job-killing organization of America.”

Mitt Romney says a new energy policy is needed to turn the U.S. economy around. (Jay LaPrete/Associated Press)

Republican presidential candidates also used Thursday’s two-hour debate to highlight the importance of domestic energy development, though none offered specifics on how they would grow U.S. production.

And former Sen. Rick Santorum stressed that energy is central to revving up America’s economic engine. He said it was essential to ensure manufacturers have access to inexpensive, domestically sourced electricity, because they “use more energy than just about everybody else in the business world.”

“We need to get the economy growing,” Santorum added. “That doesn’t mean taking more money out of it. That means making — creating — energy jobs and creating manufacturing jobs. My plan will do that.”

Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, and onetime chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, stressed that U.S. energy policy isn’t just an economic concern.

“Our energy strategy is directly related to national security, as well as stopping Iran in their efforts” to become a nuclear power, Cain said. “If we get serious about maximizing all of our energy resources in this country, we can become a player on the world market.”

Cain argued that increased U.S. oil production could make a dent in the global price of crude — and keep Iran at bay:

“As the price of oil goes down, it puts an economic squeeze on Iran,” Cain said. “That is why I believe we should have a serious energy-independent strategy, in order to be able to be a player on the world market.”